Occupational health and safety news and guidance

The director of a Suffolk roofing firm has been sentenced for safety
failings after he was caught on camera using a power tool while
balancing on the ridge of a house roof.

Anthony Nightingale of Copdock, Ipswich, was filmed using a
petrol-powered disc cutter to cut through a tile while he and an
employee worked on the roof without any measures in place to stop them
being injured in a fall.

Mr. Nightingale was prosecuted in his quality as director of 3A
Roofing Ltd. by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after a member of
the public spotted the unsafe work at Dennington, Suffolk last July and,
concerned, reported it to the HSE.

On 29 May, Ipswich Magistrates’ Court was told that Mr.
Nightingale, 34, failed to use a suitable roof ladder to reach the ridge
and instead he and his employee were seen clambering up and down the
tiles. They were seen walking along the ridge where there were no
measures in place to prevent them from falling off the roof.

Anthony Nightingale pleaded guilty to a breach of the Work at Height
Regulations 2005 and was fined £1,300. He was also ordered to pay £3,000
in prosecution costs and a £15 victim surcharge, the proceeds of which
will be spent on services for victims and witnesses.